


Intended

by MumSnake



Series: Child of Scarlet Flame and Blacken Void [11]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: AU, Brumm is there for like a hot second, Can be seen as Grimm/The Knight, Gen, M/M, so I'll tag that just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29458047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MumSnake/pseuds/MumSnake
Summary: Ghost wonders into the Grimm Troupe's Main tent with the Grimmchild and a delicate present in hand.
Relationships: Grimm & The Knight (Hollow Knight), Grimm/The Knight (Hollow Knight)
Series: Child of Scarlet Flame and Blacken Void [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1004127
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	Intended

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of the AU, but takes place before pretty much everything.

Grimm had been in his back room when the Vessel wondered into his tent, as it was tend to do. His first sign of the Vessel’s arrival had been the lack of music playing, the lingering tunes of the accordion echoing out quietly throughout the tent before dissolving into silence. Grimm perked up from his resting spot as the music faded and decided to wait to move until he could no longer hear the song of the fires. Taking his time to steady himself upon his legs, Brumm, ever generous, gave a polite call from just the other side of his curtain.

“Master, the Vessel has asked for you… it has our kin in tow.”

“Hmm, I’ll...” Grimm tried to call back but his voice rasped and sparked out on him. It reminded him of the dying embers of a hungry fire and, well, that just won’t do. Frowning at himself, Grimm forced out a response, “I’ll be a moment. Won’t you let it know for me Brumm?”

Resigning himself, he opted to press two warm fingers to his throat, messaging it as carefully as he could. He straighten his wings, arranging them just right to frame his form and held his head up high with pride and purpose.

Finally satisfied, Grimm walked over to just before the curtain that lead to the main stage. He steadily brought two long claws to the edges of the curtain and opened up just enough to peek an eye out.

The Vessel was indeed there, simply sitting near the center of the stage, its head tilted down and body curled inward around the smug looking Grimmchild that sat on its lap. Grimm could see that one of the Vessel’s hands was wrapped around the Grimmchild’s while the other repeatedly stroked the top of the Grimmchild’s head.

He felt himself pause, not wanting to disturbed the two of them, not wanting to disrupt this scene of his partner and his kin. It brought a new sense of warmth to him and well…

 _This won’t do_. He gave himself a short reprimand and took a step back from the curtain. _How unlikely to hesitate as such._

Not wanting to waste any more time, he reassessed himself. Only once he was sure that he was absolutely ready to finally appear before his guest did he summon the Scarlet Fire and ascend to the stage.

Grimm, ever the performer, flourished onto the stage with practice grace and bright flame. He twirled once before ending in a low greeting bow to his partner. His sudden arrival seemed to had spooked the Grimmchild into climbing the Vessel but his partner hardly seemed startled. Steadying the Grimmchild on its shoulder, the Vessel turned to Grimm and gave to him its complete unwavering attention.

For just a second the Vessel gazed at him with such intent, Grimm began to think that something else was expected of him. Instead, and to his surprised, the Vessel had then stood up and bowed in return with its arms hugging it’s sides closely and head tilted nearly as low Grimm had done. The Grimmchild perched on the Vessel’s shoulder had also added to the affect, fluttering it’s wings open in a version of it’s own sweeping bow.

“Oh my, how courteous of the two of you.” Grimm teased as the moment of formality ended.

The Grimmchild rose up into the air with a small cry and a wide smile before flying forward with wide wings and clinging claws. Grimm could not help himself but to catch the Grimmchild in open arms as a chuckle slipped out from his painted face.

Upon catching the squealing child, Grimm spun the two of them in a circle. He held the Grimmchild out, enticing more bubbles of laughter and spats of embers from it. It squirmed in his hold, holding its small little hands out to him in a wanting manner and Grimm couldn’t deny that even if he wanted too. He shifted the child to one arm, curling the Grimmchild to his side, protective and supported in his arm while another went to pet one of its horns not unlike the Vessel had done earlier.

This was… all too much, he knew, and it showed that perhaps he has become far too attached to something that will not last. He knew that ultimately the Grimmchild was simply a means to an end, just one last part for the Ritual and for the Flame to continue on, but Grimm enjoyed this so, _so_ much.

_I can indulge in this, for just a moment longer._

As Grimm held the Grimmchild close, he couldn’t help but also notice its slightly larger size since it had been in his care. He hummed to himself; eyes squinting in thought as he calculated the amount of flame that the Grimmchlid has taken when he spotted his partner who had taken a step to him.

Seeing that it now had Grimm’s attention, the Vessel approached the two of them with more purpose in its stride.

It came to stand in front of the two of them, and Grimm could swear that he could feel the pull of the Void within those dark pools that acted as its eyes. It is and has been slightly unnerving to him, to be so close to something so uncontrollable yet restrained by the will of its owner. He thinks he can get a sense, now, of what the Vessel wants as oppose to what the Void within it wants.

And that was a thought that had made him all the more curious about his partner.

For this Vessel to move and poise as if it were truly nothing but still then act with such purpose that surely, _surely_ it did have a will of some kind. No wonder this Vessel had been thrown out by the Pale King; so flawed and imperfect to the Wyrm’s standards, but it worked just as well for Grimm. A near perfect partner for the Troupe’s performance, just as Grimm suspected it would be, but it was also such a fascinating creature to him personally.

Grimm wondered on just how to question the Vessel about what it wanted when the sounds of fabric fluttering interrupted his thoughts. The Vessel had moved even closer to him, the distance now shrunk so that it could reach for him with close to no issue.

 _This is different_ , Grimm thought as he watched the Vessel but refused to move. Their usual interactions always had some distance between the two of them, as if some form of formality had been engraved into its actions. The only time the Vessel ever dared to stand near him, and he it in a lesser sense, was when they performed together on the stage. This sudden new boldness brought him to attention as he watched the cloak by its chest start to unfold, parting finally when the Vessel’s hand pushed past the fabric to present…

A pale flower.

Such an odd little thing, quite like its holder in that regard but that is where the similarities stopped.

Such a plant as pale as this, through sharing its likeness to the Pale King, was not something born from Hallownest. Grimm could tell from just one look, and by all means such a thing should not have been accessible here, in the hollowed shell of the old kingdom.

Yet the Vessel has appeared before him with something that should not be here and, Grimm just noticed, is actually holding out the flower as if to giv-

“Oh.” He says, dumbfounded.

Grimm is stunned, made unable to move-

No, not unable to move, but rather he doesn’t _dare_ to make another move.

Grimm can feel the Grimmchild squirm in his arms and he relaxes his hold somewhat unconsciously as his eyes remain fixated on the pale flower. He sees the flower move closer to him, vaguely registering that the Vessel took another step towards him, its arm no doubt still stretched out while excluding that same stoic confidence it always displays.

Grimm had admired that confidence before, when he had decided to allow the Vessel to act as his partner for the Troupe. He especially loved seeing the Vessel resist and persist in each trial that it was given with an abundance of feeling and even, he’d like to believe, some smugness at times. He found himself looking forward to their duets; he even proposed that the two of them have practices in between everything that was happening. He adored being able to see so openly the flaws that the Pale King also had seen within the Vessel spark to life in what should had been empty Void filled eyes, but now-

Now Grimm wasn’t sure about that choice.

He isn’t sure about this.

The flower came even closer to him and he felt himself jerk back, away from it. He honestly hadn’t even noticed himself repelling until the flower had vanished from his view within the folds of cloth it had come from. Instead, in its place with the Vessel’s own masked face staring up at him with that same unreadable expression and a small tilt of the head.

A silent question to his actions.

 _The poor thing’s confused,_ that much he could see, and honestly Grimm want to defend- no explain himself for his sudden change in demeanor, but how could he go about that to a Vessel of all things? Even despite how flawed it proved to be in its supposedly empty nature. Not to mention how stubborn his partner can be with specific things.

He felt himself close up more and more as a silence persisted between them. Grimm nearly shocked still and the Vessel just waiting for him with the Grimmchild still in his arms completely unaware of the tense atmosphere.

… _This wouldn’t do at all._

But how does he explain it, that that… pale flower wasn’t right. That him accepting the flower felt as if it were an act of crossing some unspoken line, some unwritten taboo.

That this one act was something that the Vessel could not, should not, force to its favor.

Grimm can feel the Vessel’s eyes on him again, ever watching but never wavering. He glances up, quickly past the Vessel’s eyes, an excuse finding its way to his tongue and he’s building himself up to voice it, but a soft, comforting chirp called from his arms and his defenses shattered all around him. Grimm stutters the words before they can be let out, a mess of incomprehensible sound replacing them instead before he quickly closes up once more.

The Grimmchild shifts just slightly in his hold and he glances down to make eye contact with such large red eyes.

It looks so innocent, and so inquisitive as it watches him so intently, almost like…

Its almost as if…

 _Oh_.

 _I’ve doomed myself_ , he realizes as he gazes down at the child in his arms and really sees what he’s brought about.

This isn’t how this is supposed to play out. This could all even be quite detrimental, to the Troupe and to himself.

He knew that possibility going into it and knows it far more now, but he’s made up his mind.

In fact, he feels as if he’s made this decision a long time ago.

“… That flower,” Grimm takes a step to the Vessel, slowly moving to look at the small but resilient thing in the black abyss of its eyes. He can feel himself being pulled once again, can feel its allure wrap around his mind and a part of him thinks he should be wary of that darkness and of the Void that lives within it.

But this is his partner that _he_ specifically chose. So, really, why should he fear it?

This is what he wanted since the start, right?

“Did you bring that for me?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
